Resolutions
by DamselOnDrums
Summary: The team is on their way to catch an unsub hidden deep in the countryside of beautiful Indiana. What's the catch? The mode of transportation. Their guide isn't exactly typical either.  Oneshot. Completely unrelated to Important Principles


_So, this is the product of what happens in my Civics class. We get off topic so much, I tune in and out of the conversation at my own free will and somehow still have an average of a 100 after a whole month of school. Hm... I should've been in Honors. Oh well._

_Basically, I had this random idea because I'm a horsey person, but am still obsessed with Criminal Minds. If you hear horse lingo you don't understand, Google it. :) The ending is bad, but then again, I'm always horrible at endings. Enjoy! - Taylorrr! xx_

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**Resolutions**

"Mrs. Bradley, is there anywhere your son would have taken his victims? Anywhere he goes to be alone?" Prentiss asked urgently.

"I-I don't know. He barely talked to me about what cereal he liked, let alone where he goes to be by himself."

A girl with ebony hair appeared in the doorway. She couldn't have been older than sixteen and yet her presence was more of an eighteen year old. "I know where he went," she stated. "He took me and my sister there."

Emily whirled around to face the new comer. "Who are you?"

"Avery Samuels. He killed my sister."

"Can you take my team to where he is?"

"I can," she said with a nod. "But, the only way to get there is on horseback - the path is way too narrow for any car to get through."

Hotch headed towards the door behind her. "If you can't ride, stay behind," he said.

"We'll need at least seven horses. Mrs. Bradley, can you help us?" Rossi asked after glancing at the team to see their answers.

"Yes. I'll get them right away. Please follow me." She rushed them from the house and into the large white barn with the BAU plus Avery on her heels.

"I can tack in under five minutes; brush them down and I'll get them ready," the youngest said.

"We'll use Cairo, Knight, Memento, Splat, Dash, Keepsake, and Beezy. Their tack is on the wall and have their names on the racks." Avery disappeared into the adjoining room. "Can any of you help brush them?"

All but Reid stepped forward and the woman split them up. Amy Bradley pulled a dapple grey, extremely tall horse from a stall and clipped lines from the wall to its halter. "Dr. Reid, is it? This is Cairo. You'll be riding him," she explained as she rubbed the curry over his body. He swallowed hard, just looking at the height. "Don't worry; he's a good mount."

Avery appeared every few minutes with saddles and bridles in hand, placing them on doors of stalls the agents were in. Once she had made ten different trips, she began saddling Cairo in a flurry of rapid motion. When he was set to go, Spencer lead him from the barn, as she went to work on JJ's stead, Memento, a short, chestnut mare with a white stripe down her face. She zipped down the row from Prentiss and pitch-black Splat, who had white flecks down her body and a white face, to Morgan with a dun and black Dash, to Hotch and a cherry bay Knight, to Rossi with the short, dark Keepsake, and finally to her own mount, Beezy, a huge Holsteiner with a thin white stripe down her face and four white stockings.

With all the skill of a trained jockey, she swung herself into the saddle and walked the horse out to where the agents were waiting. "Okay, we have to walk them for a few minutes; otherwise they'll pull up lame, and trust me when I say that you do _not_ want that happening when you're on. Keep a horse's length when you're right behind each other. Other than that, be prepared for your legs to kill tomorrow morning," she said loud enough for all to hear, "And when you have to jump anything, stand up in your stirrups and lean over the neck a little."

Secretly, all but JJ and Emily were worried more about the ride than the unsub himself. Undoubtedly the women had more experience than city-boy Derek, turtle-like Reid, non-whimsical Aaron, but not much more than outdoorsy Rossi – JJ from growing up near farm towns and Prentiss from her world travels with the Ambassador. Avery made them all look like newbies, however. Her posture was near perfect, and she controlled the horse that was easily bigger than Reid's 16-hand Cairo.

The team hung behind her for a while. When she called "squeeze and ask for a trot," though, JJ and Morgan quickly closed most of the gap, Prentiss not far behind. Avery glanced over her shoulder to see the bouncing adults and struggled not to burst into laughter. "When your horse's left leg goes forward, you stand, when it goes back, you sit," she said as she watch Spencer nearly fly out of the saddle. Inevitably, she had to drop back and repeat "up, down, up, down," for him until he finally got it.

When she figured it would be a better idea to pick up the pace, she yelled it over her shoulder and the small herd eased into a quick canter, Dash, Beezy, and Cairo taking lead. Morgan had one hand holding the reins, the other hovering over his gun. Reid's face revealed worry and concentration, and he kept glancing down to the ground below. She herself was at ease, but kept looking back at the ones behind. JJ and Prentiss were almost dead even with Hotch a few paces behind, and Rossi struggling to keep Keepsake at a canter. "Agent Rossi, give her sides a squeeze and a click," she yelled over the pounding of hooves and the wind whistling around her.

He gave a good try, but the older mare flat out refused. Avery turned Beezy and doubled back to be even with him. Carefully, she reached over, pushed his hands further forward, and clicked while he gave a hard squeeze with his calves. The mare grunted, but obliged. She pressed her heels into her own mare's sides and Beezy took off like a shot back to the front. "At those rocks up there," she pointed, "take a left and slow to a trot. Through the trees it gets uneven on the trails."

She was the first down the narrow trail, slowing her horse to a brisk trot. Beezy grunted a few times as she lifted her hooves a bit higher off the ground to avoid tripping. Avery looked back to see all of the agents looking increasingly tense. She turned back forward just in time to duck to avoid being hit in the face by a low-hanging branch. "Duck!" she yelled.

After another ten minutes of careful riding, the group slowed to a stop behind the youngest. "It's just over that ridge," she pointed again. "You can't miss it."

All six agents swung to the ground, walking oddly in discomfort. With guns drawn and knees bent they sped in the direction they had been pointed while Avery took hold of the reins incase they wandered. JJ was the last one out of sight making her involuntarily shiver.

Morgan was in front, flanked by Hotch and Prentiss on either side, with Reid and Rossi behind them, and JJ bringing up the rear. There was a decent sized opening in a large slab of rock with rusted iron bars barely closing it off. "Stephen Bradley this is the FBI. Come out with your hands up," Morgan roared through the opening, gun pointed. When there was no reply, he ripped the bars away and rushed inside. The rest of the team followed, sweeping the hollowed rock.

When they neared the back, muffled cries echoed off the walls. They picked up their pace to a jog. When they finally reached the source, there was a disheveled, bearded man standing over two girl with a gun pointed at their heads. "Move and they both die," he said, cocking the pistol for emphasis.

"Stephen, you don't have to do this. They weren't the ones who hurt you; it was Jodie Carmine. She's the one who killed herself and her child. Just let them go," Rossi said, calmly. "Nobody has to die."

His eyes darted from each agent, and after a minute of silence, dropped to his knees, gun falling from his hand. Derek sprang forward to cuff him while the women stepped up to unshackle the chained girls. Their clothes were tattered and their whole bodies were filthy. One had tear marks down her cheeks. "Kassi Baylor?" Prentiss asked the one who looked to have been crying; she nodded.

"Olympia Vlann?" Another nod. "Okay, we're going to get you out of here. Can you stand?"

Olympia took hold of Emily's outstretched hand and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. Kassi was lifted by Hotch as she was in too frail a state to stand on her own. The two pairs were taken out first and herded to the small group of horses to be rushed away. Morgan shoved Stephen out next, one hand grasping his shoulder, the other holding the cuffs.

As Avery watched the scene unfold, she realized that she was not the only one who suffered the loss of a loved on to him. She realized those girls had families terrified that they may not come home alive, and, although it was too late for her sister, it was never to late for the survivors and their families to recover.

_**FIN**_


End file.
